Moments Before Holidays
by Hikari of the Moon
Summary: Sidestories for Holidays by Bakura. Stories so far: Why Marik's scared of that blackberry jam how Bakura met his trusty lighter, Shawn and where that miniskirt from the last chapter came from.
1. Blackberry Jam

Hikari: The long awaited sidestories to Holidays by Bakura are HERE!  
((crickets chirp))  
Axel: Should I burn the crickets?  
Hikari: Nah. They're the only ones who really care.  
Yawi: Make him do the disclaimer!

Axel: What? Oh, fine! Hikari of the Moon does not own Yugioh. Nor does she own me, Axel! I'm from the video game Kingdom Hearts II, another thing she doesn't own.

Note: This is a series of drabble-length stories meant to explain some of the jokes and references from my other fanfiction Holidays by Bakura.

* * *

It had been just a normal day at the Ishtar house. 

Which meant that it was time for something to go wrong.

"MARIK!"

Marik stumbled down the stairs, still half asleep from staying up late at Bakura's. "What Ishiy?"

Ishizu glared as only a big sister can. "Don't call me Ishiy."

"Is that all? Can I go back to sleep?"

"No. Now make yourself a sandwich. You slept in and I am NOT making another meal!"

Marik sighed. He took a deep breath and... "ODION! CAN YOU MAKE ME A SANDWICH?"

"AMERICAN FOOTBALL IS ON!"

Marik sighed again. No help from Odion then. "Fine, fine. I'll do it myself..." He headed into the kitchen, sleep still clouding his mind.

"Morning, Sunshine-Hair!"

Marik groaned. "Malik, can you make me a sandwich?"

"No."

"...Can you at least tell me what a sandwich _is_?"

Malik smiled. "Sure!"

"...Perky morning person," Marik grumbled.

Malik blinked at him. "It's two in the afternoon."

Marik waved him off. "Whatever. So what is a sandwich?"

"It's stuff between two pieces of bread."

Marik nodded and yawned. "What stuff?"

Malik shrugged. "Whatever you want, as long as it tastes good together."

"You pick something for me. Too sleepy."

Malik turned around and looked through the cabinets. "You could just wake up."

"Going back to sleep after this."

He nodded at his sleeping yami and placed a jar of something on the counter. He then headed to the fridge and opened its door. "You like blackberries, Marik?"

"What?"

"Okay!" Malik grabbed the blackberry jam out of the fridge and placed it on the counter too. "Now, I'll get the bread. You get two NOT SHARP knives and open the peanut butter and jelly."

"I thought you said jam..."

"Jam, jelly, same difference."

If Marik had been more awake, he would've replied with a smart remark. He also would have thought before he opened the jam and looked down into it. It was a half empty jar, but jam still covered the inside. No light got it. It reminded Marik of something. And in his sleepy state, his mind wasn't working too well. Which left him with one thought:

"SHADOW REALM IN A JAR!"

He flung the jar away from him as fast as he could. Malik turned around in shock and gaped at his yami. The jar shattered against the ground, spreading the dark, syrupy substance all over the tile.

"IT'S SPREADING! IT WANTS TO EAT ME!"

Marik jumped up on the counter. "NOOOO!"

Malik watched for a moment longer before walking out of the kitchen and into the living room. "Sis? We have a problem in the kitchen."

----

And that's why Marik freaks out when you even _mention_ blackberry jam.

* * *

Axel: So...This is the first sidestory?  
Yawi: Yup. Hikari was proud of herself for writing it.  
Hikari: Still am proud of me! And if you guys want certian things from Holidays by Bakura cleared up in a sidestory, request it! Anywho, like it, love it, hate it? Review and tell me! 


	2. Shawn

Hikari: Thanks to the four reviewers who love me, the second sidestory is HERE!  
Axel: ((smirks)) And it involves fire!  
Yawi: ((sighs)) Anyone want a yami for a week or two? I feel like a vacation?  
Axel: You, dark girl! Disclaimer!

Yawi: You don't tell me what to do, pyro! But Hikari of the Moon doesn't own Yugioh or the character Axel. They belong to whoever it is that owns them.

Note: This is a series of drabble-length stories meant to explain some of the jokes and references from my other fanfiction Holidays by Bakura.

* * *

Bakura was window shopping through the mall. And, contrary to what I just said, he was shopping for windows. No, the great and powerful Thief King was looking for absolutely nothing in particular. Rather, he was just bored and thought the mall was the best place to release his boredom on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, like all not-so good plans, this one wasn't working so well. He was almost as bored here as he was at home! At least there he had things to entertain him! Here, all he could do was buy way too much coffee at the Starbucks and get kicked out of Macys.

...Um, you may not want to ask about that one.

Anyway, he passed by a chocolate store advertising a new candy basket and a video game store announcing _Castle Soul 3_ would be out in a week. Bakura made a mental note to pick up a copy of that game once the stores recovered from that first surge of people buying it. Personally, he didn't understand the game, but it would make a great birthday present for Marik, who followed the story line like it held the secret of life.

Then, he came to a Sears. He was about to go in and annoy the sales clerks, but he remembered had been banned from there last week. In fact, he realized, he'd been at one point or another banned from almost every store in the mall.

And so, he set out to find the stores that hadn't had the honor of banning him and see what he could do to fix that.

Hey, it was something to do!

He turned around and walked slowly through the mall once again, looking at every store and remembering why, how, and when he'd been banned. A lot of the stories included Marik and one even was Ryou's fault, really. He hadn't been the one who'd gotten into the fight with a _Castle Soul_ fangirl! Bakura scoffed. He knew better than to do that! But he kept walking while he reminisced, bumping into people sometimes but ignoring them.

He'd gotten through a lot of the mall before he found one of the stores. He stared up at the title. Well, no wonder he kept passing by it. "_The Store, You Fools._ Interesting name." He smirked and walked in.

Once he was in, he honestly couldn't tell what they were trying to sell there. T-shirts, hats, necklaces, pins, watch bands, iPod holders, and even lighters were placed around the store. But they were all plain looking. Even the necklaces didn't have anything hanging from them. He walked up to the counter and asked the girl working there, "What do you guys _do _here?"

She smiled. "We get that a lot." She gestured to the items around the store and explained, "We customize this stuff. You know, put logos or words and designs on them. We run a pretty sweet business here; most of our customers are either in love and want something for their boyfriend or girlfriend or..."

He blinked. "Or?"

"Or they're _Castle Soul_ fans," She spat the title out like it was a swear word.

Bakura nodded. "Those people are insane."

She chuckled. "Hear hear! So are those _College Drama_ fans. Gosh, what did those fans do before that movie came out? Actually have a life?"

"Nah, they probably never had one." He smirked. "So, can I get something?"

"Oh, sure! Just pick something out and tell me what you want on it."

He stepped away from the counter and looked around. What would be a good thing to get, he wondered. Then, he saw it. It was with the other lighters, and to most would look just like the others, only a different color, but Bakura knew it was better. It had a greater purpose in life than lighting fireworks and lung-burning cigarettes! It was...

It was...

It was...

Okay, he couldn't think of what it was, but it was special! He walked over to it and picked it up. Clenching it in his fist, he flicked it on. It felt like it was made for him! His smirk grew as he walked back to the counter and placed it down. "I want this."

The sales girl nodded. "Alright. Do you want a design put on that?"

He thought for a moment. "No, it looks fine."

She smiled and rang it up.

Yes, he and this little lighter would have some good times, he thought as he paid for it and said goodbye. He flicked it on and off as he continued his walk down the mall. The next store down was one he hadn't been banned from!

Ten minutes later, with the customer service lady's hair on fire, the sprinklers spraying out water rapidly, and security on their way to 'escort him out', he decided his lighter needed a name.

He couldn't think of one until the security team had arrived and he saw their nametags.

"You're both named---" He was interrupted in his question by the security guards easily lifting him up off the floor and 'escorting' him out of the mall.

It was truly a sign that the guards shared a name! His lighter would be named after them! His lighter was to be called...

...Shawn.

And they lived pyro-ly ever after.

* * *

Axel: ((blinks)) Something from this feels familar...  
Hikari: Mini-contest time! _Castle Soul _and _College Drama_ are parody-names of a certian video game and movie! Name their real names in your review and you get a piece of cake!  
Yawi: ((glares)) That's it?  
Hikari: ((blushs)) Well, at least it's something...Please review! 


	3. MiniSkirt

Hikari: Man, I'm lazy...  
Yawi: Why do you say that? ((keeps sucking on a pixie stix))  
Hikari: Because, I've been needing to write this since...A month ago!  
Yawi: Well then I agree.  
Axel: You'd agree anyway!

Yawi: True...Hikari of the Moon does not own Yugioh. Nor does she own Axel, who's originally from Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories.

Note: This is a series of drabble-length stories meant to explain some of the jokes and references from my other fanfiction Holidays by Bakura. And note that this one happens _during_ the July chapter.

* * *

A beautiful July day. Birds chirping, kids playing in the park, and the sun shining down on bird and kid alike.

That was the backdrop to Malik's most recent torture.

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO GO SHOPPING!"

Ishizu smiled oddly and replied, "Malik, I'm not letting you spend another day inside playing video games and waiting for Marik and Bakura to come back and entertain you!"

Malik blinked at that, looking up from the strategy guide to his latest game. "Marik and Bakura are gone?"

"Yes, they left the morning after you spent fifty-two hours trying to play Final Fantasy VII in one sitting."

Malik sighed happily. "Yeah, that was a good night."

Ishizu grumbled under her breath, "A good few nights." Then said to Malik, "So, you are coming with me. Outside." At her brother's annoyed look, she added, "I thought you liked the sun."

"Yes. But I also like these video games. The closet thing we had to this in Egypt was throwing a ball around."

"You mean Catch?"

"...You're not throwing anything."

Ishizu wanted to scream at her brother's stupidity, but settled for grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the house and to the mall.

-----

"Isn't this skirt just too short?"

"Oh, yeah, I can't see anyone _buying_ it!"

Malik groaned and looked back at his newspaper. His sister had seen some of her friends-- he hadn't even known she'd had any friends-- and they had run off to look at clothes. Dragging Malik along with them, of course. Now they were looking at skirts and Malik was looking at the newspaper he had taken from an old lady outside the store.

...What? She was done with it!

Malik absorbed himself in the story, oblivious to his sister and her friends's plans.

Which is why it surprised him so much when one girl stole his newspaper, another threw a light purple piece of clothing into his hands, and his sister and a third girl shoved him into a changing room.

He blinked, wondering how that had happened so fast, and looked down at the thing he was holding. He unfolded it.

It was a mini-skirt.

"Ishizu," he said, almost snapping, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Simple," she said from the other side of the changing room door, "I'm forcing you to put on a mini-skirt."

Malik blinked again and looked down at the mini-skirt again. "And why do you think I'll put it on?"

The friend who had helped shove him replied to that. "Because we are going to sit out here and not let you out until you put it on and come out here!"

"W-what if you girls get hungry? They don't allow food in the store!"

"We'll go to the food court in shifts," the girl who took his newspaper informed him, "But you can just starve."

"You _really_ expect me to put on this purple skirt!" He took a third look at it. "It's too short to even be CALLED a skirt!"

"Like, that's why it's called a _mini-skirt_, duh. And it's lavender, not purple!"

Ishizu nodded to that girl, who smiled and ran off to eat. She looked back at the changing room and continued, "So, you see, you either put it on, or you starve."

-----

Three hours later, all the girls had eaten, and Malik's stomach was complaining that he couldn't eat too. He also knew that his sister was stubborn. Very stubborn. And her friends were either just as stubborn, or crazy, so they wouldn't give up either. He decided he only had one choice, as much as he hated it.

Which was why he had stepped out of the changing room, pants gone and in their place, the lavender mini-skirt.

Ishizu stared. The one who had given him the mini-skirt pulled out a camera she'd bought while on lunch break and snapped a picture. The other two started laughing their heads off; the other two girls joined them in laughter quickly.

Malik felt his face heat up. "Now can I get _out_ of this thing?" He snapped.

Ishizu choked out a yes through her laughing.

Malik dove back into the relative safety of the changing room and started changing back into pants.

------

In the end, Ishizu had bought him the mini-skirt. Every time either her or her friends said "mini-skirt", they started laughing again, since the word reminded them of Malik in it.

When they'd gotten home, she'd given Malik his mini-skirt back, and he'd thrown it into the back of his closet. And there it stayed...

...Until the first of April.

* * *

Axel: Great! Now those people wanting to know the story behind the mini-skirt in April Again will be happy!  
Hikari: And they'll review!  
Axel: And they'll be distracted while I light their shoes on fire! ((runs off))  
Hikari: And they'll review!  
Yawi: ...I think Axel could light her shoes on fire too! How about you people review for her, huh?


End file.
